A honeycomb catalyst support can be formed by winding a single strip of metal upon itself, as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,162,993, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. The cross section of this spirally wound honeycomb is circular, which is the most useful cross section for small honeycombs. The spacing between adjacent layers in the spiral is maintained by indentations in the strip. The rotary die for indenting a long strip is expensive, and so is the machinery for winding the long strip into a honeycomb. The expense is justified for mass production, but not for making small numbers of honeycombs for testing. This invention provides a method for forming circular honeycombs by stacking short strips that can be indented one at a time in a hand operated die. The expensive rotary die is eliminated, and so is the winding machinery. The invention provides a cylindrical frame having a flat partition along the axis of the cylinder. Each semicircle is packed with strips that lie parallel to the partition. The partition insures that the strips lie parallel and are tightly packed.